For many years manufacturers have addressed the need for protective enclosures for seating devices that protect the occupant from hazards such as sun, wind, rain, snow, cold, blowing sand, insects, contact by strangers, saliva aerosol, cold, moderate and tropical climates, and the like. Protective covers have been designed to provide for a total encapsulation of the occupant, while considering the importance of ventilation, that the cover can be interchangeably affixed to a variety of seating device types and models, that the cover be easily removed, that it installs and removes quickly, that it be compactly stowed away, and that it be affordably constructed.
A wide variety of seating devices require protective covers that protect from afore mentioned hazards.
For example, children and adults who are indisposed to walking are frequently transported in mobile carriages from one location to another. A wide variety of mobile carriages such as wheel chairs are employed. Children are transported in strollers, which come in a wide variety of configurations such as, for example, a jogger type stroller of U.S. Pat. No. D481,976 to Everett, a four wheeled stroller of U.S. Pat. No. D486,098, or an umbrella stroller of U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,302 to Gebhard, double strollers such as that of Pat. No. D486,099 to Chen, or tandem stroller per U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,294 to Brewington et al.
In another example, infants are routinely transported in infant seats, baskets or wheeled infant seats of various forms from one location to another. A wide variety of seats are employed. Vehicle seats, generically referred to as car seats have been adapted for use in automobiles, on strollers, or to be carried by hand. These seats can also double as stationary seating for the infant. Shopping carts are frequently equipped with permanently affixed infant seats that resemble car seats but do not have handles. Infants are also frequently placed in bouncy chairs, specially designed infant swings, glide swings and the like for entertainment and in order allow the relatively immobile infant to have a view and to be in view of an adult. As infants have changing needs during transit or when stationary, they are frequently removed and replaced from the seat by the caregiver.
Many further examples of mobile and stationary seating devices exist such as the bouncy chair of U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,315, an infant seat mounted to shopping cart, infant swing device, or wheeled infant seat per U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,827, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,134. Other seating devices to which this invention has applicability will become apparent to those of skill in the art.
Dedicated covers to protect occupants of seating devices are well known. One such cover is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,339,527 to Sperling et. al. which describes a collapsible screen for baby carriages which has side flaps and is rolled for storage. This screen requires that the carriage have a particular frame for mounting and is therefore not universal.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,412,935 to GreeneBaum shows a baby carriage screen as foot and head portions that are attached to the handle in the middle of the carriage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,484 to Merclean describes a rain protective cover that uses an elasticized strap to fasten to a stroller, and an overhead canopy frame for ceiling support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,170 to Banks et al. discloses a self-supporting frame for a stroller or similar infant conveyance device comprised of collapsible poles that can be compacted lengthwise. Although this design does not require a canopy for ceiling support, it has limited collapsibility, as its spring rod members are normally straight and rigid, thereby requiring them to be forced into a coiled shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,355 to Hall describes a weather guard for a carriage or stroller which is made of an impervious clear plastic material and which relies upon a pre-existing canopy structure for maintaining a ceiling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,889 to Diestel discloses an overhead canopied cover for a wheel chair that relies upon a tubular frame that is disassembled when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,865 to Mohtasham et al. describes collapsible insect netting that is either comprised of a retractable cover, which utilizes a circular rib bearing unit to pivot out of the way, or is comprised of resilient spring rods in an arched configuration that require disassembly for storage. Rain protection is not disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,732 to Pollman discloses a supplementary shade for a canopied stroller. Apart from not covering the legs of the stroller occupant, this shade does not disclose rain or insect protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,639 to Jaime discloses an infant carrier seat having dual sun visors mounted at the foot and head that stow away in compartments that are built into the foot and head of the seat. While this design allows for unobtrusive positioning of the sun visors, the sun visors disclosed are not intended for interchangeability with incompatible or dissimilar seats.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,490 to Mortenson shows a protective cover for an infant car seat, which keeps the ceiling of the cover away from the infant by attaching it to the handle with straps. This cover can only be used on infant carrier seats that come with handles. In addition, this cover cannot be used when the handle is stowed for transport in an automobile, which is a normal requirement for fastening car seats with rotating handles into automobiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,558 to Sittu illustrates an adjustable shade to be used with a stroller having an integral canopy. Apart from not coving the legs of the stroller occupant, this shade does not disclose rain or insect protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,613 to Sippel illustrates a sunshade for a stroller which covers the occupant completely and which relies upon a rectangular canopy that is permanently pivotally attached to the stroller. Two layers of shade cloth, one being a mesh and the other being a cotton material that is not transparent, achieve shading. No rain or insect protection is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,756 to Clark-Dickson discloses a shade cover to be used with a hooded pram or stroller to protect from UV radiation. No rain or insect protection is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,393 to Roh depicts a protective cover for an infant carrier seat that keeps the ceiling away from the occupant either by means of a resilient U shaped self-supporting element that is sewn into the cover ceiling and laterally mounted at the approximate midpoint of the length of the carrier, or by means of a cover support attachment that is affixed to the infant seat-carrying handle. The limitation of affixing the ceiling to the carrying handle has been discussed above. The U shaped element enables the cover to be interchangeably affixed to infant carriers with or without handles while keeping the ceiling away from the occupant. As a result of lifting the ceiling away from the occupant, it is disclosed that side section (length wise) ventilation is provided when an opaque inclement weather hood with a base hood width is used. However, as the geometry of the U shaped supporting element defines the greatest cross sectional area, forming a semi-circle, in the width-wise direction only, the effect is that the length-wise side section ventilation is constrained by the limited side section surface area afforded by the U shaped support element geometry. In addition, the small side section surface area that results from the geometry of this cover reduces the overall volume of space available to the occupant, which has the potential of causing distress to the infant due to feelings of confinement.
It is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,393 to Roh that by removing the elasticized skirt from the perimeter of the seat the occupant can be accessed. A means of accessing the infant without removing the cover skirt from the perimeter of the seat is not disclosed. In practice, this technique of accessing the infant is impractical when one considers that removing the elastic from one edge removes tension from the entire cover perimeter seal, which has the effect of collapsing the ceiling, thereby requiring complete removal or temporary stowing of the cover so that it can be out of the way for access to the infant. Furthermore, as the cover must be replaced every time it is needed, the adult is not only required to strap the infant into the seat, but to ‘fuss’ with affixing the perimeter of the cover and keeping the ceiling away from the occupant while trying to secure the unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,322 to Kuester discloses a cover for a baby buggy, which is intended to protect an infant from air pollution and is comprised of a non-air permeable fabric to enable maintenance of positive pressure by a fan unit, which provides all necessary ventilation to the occupant. Arched stays are employed to provide ceiling support of the canopy, which must be disassembled when stowing away. Although good for extremes of pollution, this design relies primarily upon self-powered mechanical ventilation rather than natural ventilation. Rain and insect protection is not disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,161 to Norman describes a saddle-shaped geometry of a collapsible tent that is held stable by securing the tent to the ground with ties. Another embodiment is in a “potato chip” shape and is described as a novelty of child toy that is also unstable in the form disclosed without the use of ties.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,282 to Yoon provides for a self erecting and self supporting tent comprised of a flexible sheet like material, side panels, and a resilient closed loop frame member with an hour glass shape such that this structure, when erected, is stable without the use of ground ties or a floor due to connection of the opposing rounded lower edges to the body ends. This method of maintaining the arched configuration, although feasible for a tent is not amenable to other applications in which the side panel lower edges must remain flexible for attachment to seating devices. The method of collapsing is by twisting the tent into a figure eight shape and folding to a compact form, repeating this process as necessary depending upon the size of the cover. This twisting procedure for collapsing results in the collapsed tent fabric being turned inside out, resulting in a tangled collapsed tent that is often time consuming to disentangle and deploy during the self erecting process. An hourglass-shaped ceiling is disclosed as the means of stabilizing the tent in place of ties. This hourglass shaped tent is not particularly amenable to applications where the ceiling surface area needs to be maximized at the mid span, nor is it necessary in situations where self-support is not required.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,628 illustrates a flexible cloth-like sunshade for a jogger type stroller that is designed primarily for overhead shading, and does not protect from sun ingress at the side of the stroller as it is not encapsulating, nor is this design suitable for strollers that are not tricycle type due to the nature of the mounting bracket disclosed. Rain and insect protection is also not disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,099 to McKinney et al. discloses a multi-layered protective shield for a stroller that overcomes the need for an overhead canopy by means of an inflatable frame support member. Although it does disclose that the inflatable frame members' rigidity will be sufficiently rigid to support the weight of the protective layers when inflated, resistance to say, tampering by the occupant, or strong winds is not explicitly addressed. This design also omits the applicability of this cover to jogger type strollers, and to the practicality of installation that requires inflation and attachment of the inflated member to the stroller.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,073 to Au discloses a collapsible windscreen comprised of two side panels reinforced by resilient loop material covered in flexible material extended across each loop member. These side panels mount to the sides of a pram or stroller by means of strapping such as Velcro™. A flap of material joins these two loops to form a ceiling. This cover is collapsible by means of detaching the unit from the stroller, sandwiching together the two panels and twisting into a figure eight form to compact. Rain protection is disclosed in addition to wind protection.
In practice, collapsing by twisting the unit's sandwiched side panels into a figure eight and then into a loop takes some practice to master, even when instructions are provided. Additionally, although the requirement for an overhead canopy stroller is not disclosed for use in conjunction with this windscreen, the side panel mount configuration presents an unstable and drooping ceiling when a canopy is not present, leading to pooling of water in the rain resistant embodiment, and circumstances of confined overhead space in both embodiments. Also, access to the occupant is difficult without removal of the cover because the side panels are fixed, and a front panel is stretched between the two side panels, unless the caregiver accesses the occupant via the drooping ceiling when a canopy is not present. Furthermore, this design does not disclose protection from insects.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,153 to Brewer shows a protective cover for infant carrier seat that keeps the ceiling away from the occupant by means of the flexible canopy support member that is permanently affixed to the infant carrier. Therefore this cover is limited by its inability to be interchangeably affixed to infant seats that do not have this canopy support member.
As a diversity of seating product configurations proliferate, there still exists a need for a protective cover that can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity of seating products and the like that protect against the afore mentioned hazards, and addresses the deficiencies of known protective cover arrangements.
It is a well-known ventilation engineering principle that to maintain the same quality of ventilation, a small encloses space with a window of a given cross sectional area and one occupant will require more frequent air changes per hour than a larger enclosed space with the same window size. In addition, if the larger room is provided with a larger window, the speed of air replacement will increase, thereby further improving the ventilation for the occupant. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective cover, which overcomes the afore mentioned hazards and that can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity of seating products and the like that substantially encapsulates the occupant, while improving ventilation by increasing the internal volume of the protective cover by increasing the overall surface area generally, and specifically by increasing the side panel ventilation cross sectional area.
It is a commonly accepted fact that confined spaces can result in unwanted psychological effects such as for example feelings of confinement or claustrophobia. Increasing the space afforded to an occupant of an enclosure such as a protective cover helps to mitigate these unwanted effects. Additionally, providing a panoramic view to the occupant can also mitigate these unwanted effects. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective cover, which overcomes the afore mentioned hazards and that can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity seating products and the like that increases the internal volume and affords a panoramic view and therefore reduces the potential for unwanted psychological effects associated with a protective cover with a smaller internal volume.
Known protective covers have provided ports for viewing the occupant such as from side vents or ceiling windows for example. Improving the convenience to the caregiver by affording a full view, from every possible angle, of the occupant of the seating device while the protective cover is in place is important for reasons of safety, and peace of mind. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective cover that overcome the afore mentioned hazards and that can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity of seating products and the like that affords improved visibility of the occupant by the caregiver from all angles including the top.
The use of protective covers is becoming more wide spread as public awareness increases of the need to improve the well being of occupants and to protect occupants from the afore mentioned hazards and the like. In promotion of increased use of protective covers that improve the well being of occupants, it is therefore an object of this invention to provide a protective cover, which overcomes the afore mentioned hazards and that can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity of seating products and the like, which improves the caregiver's ease of use of the protective cover by affording ready access to the occupant without the need for removing the cover altogether and that affords a means of conveniently and compactly stowing the cover out of the way when not in use.
Before mounting known protective cover configurations to the seating products, the cover material or fabric must be unfolded, turned right side out, or arranged prior to mounting to the seating product. Thus the caregiver is faced with the need to spend time to become familiar with the proper mounting position of the cover each time prior to mounting it to the seat. This costs time and can cause frustration. It is an object of this invention to improve the convenience to the caregiver by providing a protective cover that is self-erecting such that the protective cover is self-deploying into a final mountable configuration, effectively reducing the time required to deploy the protection cover so that the caregiver can rapidly mount the protective cover to the seating product with ease.
Although known self supported ceiling protective covers configurations are comprised of ceiling support elements such as flexible rods, members, U-shaped arches, and canopies, storing these covers requires deliberate bending of the support element and folding of the unit into a compact form of the correct size and shape to fit into a storage compartment. In other cases, the compacting method is complicated, required that the user follow detailed instructions. These methods do not always yield the same results, and the user can end up with a bulky collapsed shape, a stored unit whose material or fabric is turned inside out, or a unit that requires re-assembly before attachment to the seating device, thereby requiring additional time and concentration to subsequently unfold and deploy for use. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective cover that can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity of seating products and the like, which overcomes the afore mentioned hazards, and that can be rapidly and consistently collapsed into the same compact configuration every time, without disassembly of its basic parts, so that it can be stowed away for convenient transport by the caregiver and subsequently rapidly deployed in the same consistent manner every time.
Known protective covers offer one or more flaps that can be used to protect against sun, rain, wind and the like. Known protective covers typically use flaps that are permanently attached to the covers and that pull back out of the way when not in use. These permanently affixed flaps represent bulk to the total assembly when not in use. For example, a flap for rain may not be required in a desert climate where sun is the primary concern for example. To get around this problem known protective covers are offered in different versions. This can result, for example, in a situation in which a care giver who desires to protect an infant with a protective cover, and is in a climate of more than one seasonal change may be required to purchase one protective cover to protect against sun, another against rain, and yet another against insects. In another scenario, a caregiver may wish to shield an infant from contact by strangers in public places, or to protect an infant from effects resulting from staring at overhead high intensity light sources, where rain protection would not be required. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective cover that can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity of seating products, which overcomes the afore mentioned hazards, and that provides a universal base configuration that is so constructed that it can, if necessary, be easily supplemented with rapidly attachable and removable protective layers, and whose supplementary layers can also be temporarily fastened out of the way in addition to being completely removed and stored such that a multiplicity of hazards can be addressed by one frame and one or more protective layers conveniently and compactly.
Additionally, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective cover that overcomes the afore mentioned hazards, and which can be interchangeably affixed to a multiplicity of seating devices so as to provide as close as practically possible a one-type-fits all design, insofar as most seating devices such as strollers, carriages, infant seats and the like have fixed head and foot positions and that the protective cover herein disclosed is designed to span these head and foot positions, such that in one respect manufacturing costs are reduced corresponding to the reduction in variety of sizes offered, and as well in the reduction of types insofar as types are reduced by the use of supplementary protective layers.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.